This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
Source: I received a copy from Netgalley to review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

As a teacher, this book touched on so many of my emotions. This is reality condensed into a book. We hear of school shootings every day. This book looks at the confused life of a teen, who holds his school hostage.  He randomly shoots teachers and students as he rants and raves about the injustices done to him. The problem is he feels like he has lost everything, including his sister. We see how much his sister loves him, willing to sacrifice her own life to save her friends and the students she doesn't know. We witness the agony of those outside the school  who have siblings inside. We witness the heroes who do what they can to save as many as they can.
I sat on the edge of my bed reading this late into the night, putting it down only because I had to teach school the next day. Normally I would read a book like this in one sitting. The emotions it brought out in me made that impossible.  I could only read for so long before I had to put the book down and deal with the emotions I was feeling. It was like having to decompress so that I could function once again.  This is a book that I will definitely recommend. It is not for the faint of heart and should only be read with a box of tissues.  

Somewhere Out There by Amy Hatvany

Genre: Adult, Realistic Fiction
Source:  I received a copy through Netgalley to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I seem to be reading a lot of books lately that work my emotions. This is the story of a mother who gives up her children, ages four and six-months in hopes of them having a better life. She believes they will be kept together, but they aren't.

This story is told from three points of view. First we have Jennifer, the mother who gave up her children when she got in trouble with the law. Then we have Brooke who was the oldest of the girls. She grew up in the foster system and has always felt like she belonged nowhere. Now she is pregnant and trying to decide what is best for her own child. Finally we have Natalie who has never questioned her adoptive parents about her birth mother. When her daughter comes home from school with an assignment to create a family tree, Natalie sets out to find her birth mother and a sister she never knew. The author has done a phenomenal job developing the characters. You can't read this book and not feel for all of them involved. This is a story of finding love, forgiveness in a heartrending story.

Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz

Genre: Adult, Romance, Suspence
Source: I received a copy from Netgalley to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

From Goodreads:

Madeline and Daphne were once as close as sisters—until a secret tore them apart. Now it might take them to their graves.

They knew his name, the man who tried to brutally attack twelve-year-old Madeline in her grandmother's hotel. They thought they knew his fate. He wouldn't be bothering them anymore...ever. Still their lives would never be the same. 

Madeline has returned to Washington after her grandmother's mysterious death. And at the old, abandoned hotel—a place she never wanted to see again—a dying man’s last words convey a warning: the secrets she and Daphne believed buried forever have been discovered.

Now, after almost two decades, Madeline and Daphne will be reunited in friendship and in fear. Unable to trust the local police, Madeline summons Jack Rayner, the hotel chain’s new security expert. Despite the secrets and mysteries that surround him, Jack is the only one she trusts...and wants. 

Jack is no good at relationships but he does possess a specific skill set that includes a profoundly intimate understanding of warped and dangerous minds. With the assistance of Jack's brother, Abe, a high-tech magician, the four of them will form an uneasy alliance against a killer who will stop at nothing to hide the truth....

My Thoughts:
This book is all about secrets and the effect they have on those keeping them. Madeline and Daphne haven't spoken for years. However, when they reconnect it is like they have never been apart. They are bound together by a past secret that has come back to haunt them. Jack has his own secret and while trying to protect Madeline finds himself falling for her. This is an edge of your seat, suspenseful romance. If you are into the mushy, gushy type of romance don't bother picking this up. The suspense, twists and turns kept me reading. I really didn't know how it was going to turn out until the end. That made this book especially wonderful for me. This is definitely a book I'll recommend.